Acute and chronic effects of rat colon after photodynamic therapy and radiotherapy: a comparative study

After clinical photodynamic therapy (PDT) and radiotherapy (RT) of the colon carcinoma acute and late damages on adjacent normal tissue were seen. Therefore it was the aim of this experimental study to investigate these damages on normal colon tissue of rats after PDT in comparison with RT. Within the first hours after PDT the endoscopic examination showed a severe acute damage. The histopathological examination showed that the acute ulceration depends on the energy density applied within the first three days. This study indicates different progresses of acute effects after PDT and RT, respectively. Late damages were observed only by RT in contrast to PDT. Synthetic diet prevents acute damages after PDT. However, the synthetic diet after RT can prevent the late damage for the duration of the diet administration.